Page 71 of So Bad It Must Be Good

Mom leaned her head on his shoulder, wrapping her hands around his arm and giving it a little squeeze. “Thank you,” she whispered. “It’s going to make a difference. I just know it.”

And yet, Aiden wasn’t here. Dad was in surgery. What difference was he making?

He was helping Mom. That mattered, and it wasn’t some attempt to earn her affection. He had it. It was right here.

“Aiden!” Mom hopped up and ran over to where Aiden stepped into the waiting room. She flung her arms around him and simply stood there, saying something Liam couldn’t hear.

Probably for the best.

“What did you do?”

Liam blinked over at his grandmother. “Huh?”

“The thing your mother asked you, what was it?”

He shrugged ineffectively. Grandma and Mom had always had a kind of tense relationship. Not antagonistic, but certainly not close. Definitely a lot of veiled disapproval from both. “It doesn’t matter. Just a favor for Aiden.”

Grandma rolled her eyes. “Oh, for heaven’s sake.”

Liam didn’t say anything to that and he didn’t try to read into it. He’d had his fill of people telling him what they thought of his favors. He looked down at his hands as his grandmother grumbled something about it not being her place.

Then she slapped him across the shoulder.

“What was that for?”

“For sitting there looking all wounded and ruining my Zen.”

Christ. He couldn’t catch a break. “I’m sorr—”

“Don’t be sorry, Liam Connor Patrick. I told myself I’d stay out of it when your father asked me to, but I am done. My son is in surgery and I will darn well speak my mind. It isn’t right, and you’re all old enough to know better.”

“Grandma,” Liam said, forcing his voice to be even and soothing as he glanced to make sure Mom hadn’t heard her slap or outburst. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but we should just calm—”

“Your mother loves a cause. Aiden’s always been her cause.” Grandma jerked her chin in Mom and Aiden’s direction. “Liam, you have always been the martyr for her cause. And none of you see it. Not one of you. Not even your father. He told me to stop butting my nose in where it didn’t belong, so I did, but I’m fed up.”

“I’m not a martyr.”

“But you look miserable and you’ve done a favor for Aiden. Sacrificing yourself for him all over again and for what?”

“For my family.”

Grandma made a rude noise. “Family doesn’t force you into abject misery. Family stands with each other, not for one person. Family doesn’t punch each other down so you’re on the same level. You raise up who you can, and you pray for those you can’t. A real family knows that love is as selfish as it is selfless.”

“Grandma, that doesn’t make any sense.”

“It does to me,” she replied, her mouth sinking at the corners, the wrinkles in her face seeming deeper and harsher today. But she pushed to her feet. “I’m going to go pray . . . or get a drink,” she muttered before stalking out of the waiting room and into the hospital hallway.

Liam didn’t know what to do with all of that. Unfortunately it felt all too much like Kayla’s words last night. Too many truths that didn’t make sense when compared to what he’d always believed.

But how could it be the truth if he didn’t believe it? How could he be a martyr when he’d never given up anything for Aiden? Maybe a few days off when Aiden had worked for Dad. Sure, he’d paid Aiden’s way quite a few times. And, yes, he’d given a good chunk of his savings to help pay for Aiden to go to culinary school a few years back.

But how was that not raising Aiden up because he could? He’d had the cash, and Mom and Dad and Aiden hadn’t. At the time, Aiden had needed some training more than Liam had needed a new roof.

He wasn’t punched down. He was a good fucking brother, damn it.

Mom came and sat beside him again and Liam scanned the room, frowning. “Where’d Aiden go?”

“He was going to go buy everyone some soda.” Mom smiled and patted Liam’s knee. “I told him about you and Kayla. He didn’t say anything, but we’ll work on him some more once your father’s out of surgery.”

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